Tag: Nesrin Eksi

Artists whose designs were used on Turkish currency

We compiled the list of artists who created the designs of the coins and banknotes of Republic of Türkiye.

Most of the coins were produced by artists employed by the Mint, and most of the banknotes by the engravers of the Central Bank’s Banknote Print, yet in the early periods of the Republic, foreign experts were consulted and the works of artists participating in occasional competitions have also taken place on commemorative and circulation coins.

Artists whose designs were used on Turkish currency:

(dates in brackets indicate the year which the artist’s first design ewas released into circulation.)

Artists who were awarded degrees in competitions, but whose designs were not used on coins:

Artists whose artwork is used on currency indirectly:

*designers of some of the coins and most of the banknotes are missing from the list. It will be updated as new information surfaces.

cover photo: 2018 annual report of the Turkşsh Stete Mint

Ahmet Şimşek

Cumhuriyet ve Gençlik – Ahmet Şimşek

Ahmet Şimşek won the coin design competition in 1998, which was held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. His winning design was used for the silver coin titled ‘Republic and Youth.’

The composition features a girl and a boy, holding an olive branch and a torch, positioned alongside Atatürk’s profile, facing right. Surrounding the central design, decorations made of ears of wheat form part of a gearwheel that spans three-quarters of the circumference.

 

 

 

 

A set of seven coins was released in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Republic of Türkiye.

A golden coin called “Republic 75” was a collective design. Effigy of Atatürk is the work of Pietro Giampaoli from the 50’ies.

Other coins were made in silver:

Milenyum 2000 yarışma ikincisi; Ahmet Şimşek

He attended another contest and won second place with his Millennium coin.

Two doves cuddling around a globe, forming a tulip outline.

(Other two winners of the Millenium Competition are Ayşe Şirin and Tan Mavitan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahmet Şimşek also attended the coin design competition of 2006. The contest theme was Newroz (Spring Equinox) Celebrations.

Although he was announced to share the second place with Buket Esener, his design was not used on the coin (One side of the coin bears the design of Buket Esener and the other side bears the design of Betül Uğurlu).

Nesrin Ekşi – Schnepf

Born in 1975, the artist graduated Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Sculpture Programme in 1997.

During her career at the State Mint between 1997 and 2016, she created numerous coins and medals starting with the 5.000.000 Lira gold Dikilitas (the Obelisk of Theodosius) commemorative, which was the second piece of the Istanbul Cultural Heritage serie.

Reverse of the 50 Kr piece in circulation today; depicting the Bosphorus Bridge, is also her handiwork.

Coins she designed and sculpted:

  • 1998 Istanbul Cultural Assets #2 – Dikilitas – Obelisk of Theodosius
  • 1998 75th anniversary of the Turkish Republic Serie
    • Republic and Women
    • Republic and Children
  • 1999 Istanbul Cultural Assets #3 – Tophane Fountain (gold and silver; two coin types)
  • 1999 80th anniversary of Ataturk’s arrival at Samsun on 19th of May 1919
  • 1999 700th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire’s establishemnt / Conquest of Constantinople
  • 2000 First Turkish Pilot – Sabiha Gökçen
  • 2000 Cities of the Antiquity #1 – Ephesus Celsus
  • 2000 Türkiye’s candidacy to European Union membership
  • 2001 23th of April
  • 2001 Traditional Turkish Handcrafts #1 – Iznik Pottery
  • 2001 Turks of the Millenium – Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi
  • 2001 Birds of Türkiye Serie
  • 2002 Ataturk portrait for the circulation 250.000 Lira (*33, p. 33)
  • 2002 Flowers of Türkiye Serie
  • 2002 23th of April
  • 2002 Hagia Sophia Mosque
  • 2002 Istanbul Cultural Assets #4 Hagia Sophia Mosque
  • 2002 Olympic Games – Skiing
  • 2002 Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi
  • 2003 Zeugma
  • 2003 First Turkish European Champion Athlete, Süreyya Ayhan
  • 2003 First Turkish Woman Lawyer, Süreyya Ağaoğlu
  • 2003 550th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople – Çinili Köşk
  • 2004 Turks of the Millenium – Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror
  • 2005 Ataturk portrait for the 25 Yeni Kurus for circulation (*33, p. 37)
  • 2005 23rd Universiade Games Izmir
  • 2005 Nemrud (bearing the 2003 date)
  • 2005 Animals of Türkiye Serie
    • Anatolian Leopard
    • Kangal Shepard Dog
    • Grizzly Bear
    • Anatolian Wild Sheep
    • Ankara Goat
    • Tailed Dormouse
    • Jerboa
    • Ankara Cat
  • 2006 800th anniversary of Gevher Nesibe Hospital Complex
  • 2006 Solar Eclipse
  • 2006 70th anniversary of Mehmet Akif Ersoy‘s death
  • 2006 Calligrapher Hamid Aytaç
  • 2007 Safranbolu Houses
  • 2007 Kayseri Kültepe – First bronze age – IDOL
  • 2008 Seljuki zodiac representations
    • Aries – Ram
    • Taurus – Bull
    • Gemini – Twins
    • Cancer – Crab
    • Leo – Lion
    • Virgo – Maiden
    • Libra – Scales
    • Scorpio – Scorpion
    • Sagittarius – Archer
    • Capricorn – Goat
    • Aquarius – Water Bearer
    • Pisces – Fish
  • 2008 Traditional Turkish Handcrafts – Miniature
  • 2008 Centenary of Kabataş High School
  • 2008 Çatalhöyük
  • 2008 Yahya Kemal Beyatlı
  • 2008 800th anniversary of the birth of Nasreddin Hoca
  • 2009 Reverse of the circulation coin 50 Kurus bearing the Bosphorus Bridge (*33, p. 44)
  • 2009 Barack Obama’s visit to Türkiye
  • 2009 90th anniversary of Ataturk’s arrival at Samsun on 19th of May 1919
  • 2009 Imperial Eagle & Bearded Vulture 1 TL
  • 2009 World Bank Group Meeting in Istanbul
  • 2009 150th anniversary of Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University
  • 2009 1430th anniversary of Hijrah
  • 2010 90th anniversary of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye
  • 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship
  • 2010 1400th anniversary of revelation of Qur’an
  • 2010 Ahırkapı Lighthouse
  • 2010 Centenary of Osman Hamdi – Istanbul Archeological Museum
  • 2011 European Youth Olimpics – Trabzon
    • Silver
    • Bronze
  • 2011 5th Universiade Winter Games – Erzurum
    • Skiing
    • Hockey
  • 2011 650th anniversary of Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling
  • 2011 Centenary of Yildiz Technical University
  • 2011 Centenary of the Turkish Airlines
  • 2011 Hejaz Railway – Medina Station
  • 2014 450th anniversary of Matrakcı Nasuh (*1)
  • 2014 First actress, Afife Jale

Medallions she created:

  • 2008 Seljuki medallion
  • 2009 Grand Bazaar Nuruosmaniye Gate medallion bearing the logo of the Turkish Numismatics Association and the Coat of Arms of the Ottoman Empire
  • 2010 European Capital of Culture; Istanbul

[1] Sculptor / artist of some of the commemoratives released by the State Mint, were not announced on the certificates or the newsletters. Designers of such coins are listed only to the extent that we could identify their designer. The list will be updated with new information.

Cemal Işıksel (1905 ~ 1989)

Cemal Işıksel is the photographer whose frames were, and are being used as the basis for many portraits of Atatürk on several banknotes and coins.

  • Ataturk portrait on the 5th Emission, 4th series 100 Lira banknotes put into circulation in 1962 and the 3rd series 500 Lira banknotes issued in the same year, engraved by by Jan Piwczyk
  • 7th Emission 5,000 Lira banknote (1st type) portrait engraved by Selahattin Tuğa
  • Portrait on the 7th Emission banknotes between 100,000 and 20,000,000 and later on the 8th Emission 1, 5, 10 and 20 New Lira by engraver Şükrü Ertürk
  • 1973, portraits on gold and silver commemorative coins for the 50th anniversary of the Republic, by Avni Kumuk
  • Portrait of Atatürk used on 250 Thousand Lira of 2002 and similarly on 25 New Kuruş of 2005 by Nesrin Ekşi Schnepf
  • 2005 1 New Turkish Lira, Atatürk portrait by Hakkı Baha Çavuşgil
  • Atatürk portrait of the 8th Emission 50 and 100 Lira banknotes, by Şükrü Ertürk
  • Ataturk portraits on the 9th emission banknotes, by Nazan Tanyu (20 and 50 TL), and by Mustafa Çakırcalı (100 and 200 Lira).

(some photos are mirrored so to have Ataturk face left)

Born in Istanbul in 1905, Cemal Işıksel was the son of Hasan Fehmi Efendi, the religious scholar who penned the fatwa prepared against the Istanbul Government. Cemal Isiksel took his first photograph of Atatürk at the station while on a journey to Afyon in 1924 to attend the second anniversary celebrations of the Dumlupınar Victory.

He later participated in all of Atatürk’s tours around the country as his personal photographer. Falih Rıfkı Atay wrote in one of his articles, “The late leader had chosen Cemal among all the photographers.”

He also took photographs of foreign statesmen who visited Turkey and created a very rich photographic archive of the first 40 years of the Turkish Republic. Some of the photographs he took of Atatürk were printed on money and stamps.

In 1926, upon the call of Yunus Nadi, the founder of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, he transferred to Cumhuriyet. Later, upon Atatürk’s request, he also became a photojournalist for Hakimiyet-i Milliye and Ulus Newspapers. He ended his photojournalist career, which he continued actively until 1956, in 1963.

Cemal Işıksel describes the interest Atatürk showed his photographers in his interview with Abdi İpekçi, published in Milliyet Newspaper on November 6, 1972, as follows:

“In 1932, the members of the First History Congress were given tea at the Marmara Mansion. I went there too. I was waiting for a suitable pose to take a picture there: Atatürk saw me. He turned around and said to the history professors and history lecturers who had surrounded him: “In this country,” he said. “We have destroyed all tyrannies, but we could not get rid of Cemal’s tyranny. Tell me child, how do you want to take a picture, where should we stand, how should we stand?”

Of course I felt deeply embarrassed, and said, “As you wish, Pasha.” Because I had not expected such a compliment. ” I said, “the professors may come this way around you, I shall take a photo like that.”

“Okay,” he said. “gather around me“. This is one of my best memories.”

Işıksel, who opened 26 exhibitions on Atatürk Photographs, the first of which was on November 10, 1965, in the German Cultural Center exhibition hall in Ankara, turned his apartment in Ankara into a permanent Atatürk Photographs exhibition in 1969 and created an Atatürk album from these photographs (1969).

Cemal Işıksel, died in Istanbul in 1989.

 

(*1) Photographers of Ataturk (in Turkish)

(*2) Article “Photographers of Ataturk” by Seyit Ali Ak (Hürriyet Sanat & Edebiyat Magazine “Gösteri”, Issue No:30 May 1983 sayısı, p. 22)

cover image: FİBHaber

Civilizations of Anatolia

  1. 2007 Early Bronze Age 3.000 BC – IDOL of Kültepe (or Kanesh or Nesha archaeological site), Kayseri
  2. 2009 Hittites, Treaty of Kadesh, Godess Kubaba & Sun disc of Alaca Höyük
  3. 2013 Phrygians
  4. 2014 Lydians, first electrum coin
  5. 2015 Urartu
  6. 2016 Ionians, the bee and stag after coins of Ephesus
  7. 2017 Roman Empire, Zeus Temple at Aizonai, First Exchange Market at Çavdarhisar
  8. 2018 Seljukis
  9. 2019 Eastern Roman Empire (Byzan
  10. 2020 Ottoman Empire

The first coin of the serie is designed by Nesrin Ekşi – Schnepf, the rest are by Tekin Gülbasar